Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Books That Made Someone Uncomfortable (So they tried banning them.)
21
items Dive into the minds of those who dared to challenge the status quo. This list features banned books that ignite curiosity and encourage critical thinking.
* These lists provide a starting point for exploration. I've included age recommendations in the titles as suggestions, and individual maturity levels vary. I encourage you to preview excerpts or discuss selections with your child to determine what's...
** My links are to Barnes and Noble because I don't know where you live, but I'd encourage a visit to a local independent book store. I do receive a small commission if you purchase something through my link.
* These lists provide a starting point for exploration. I've included age recommendations in the titles as suggestions, and individual maturity levels vary. I encourage you to preview excerpts or discuss selections with your child to determine what's...
** My links are to Barnes and Noble because I don't know where you live, but I'd encourage a visit to a local independent book store. I do receive a small commission if you purchase something through my link.
Sections
2
Books For Kids
Books For Young and Old Adults
Books For Kids
Discover books that challenge the rules and spark important conversations. These stories are for brave readers who want to explore the world.
A favorite of many, Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree is a powerful story about the importance of being generous and the dangers of being selfish. The ending is sure to stay with every reader long after turning the last page.
The Giving Tree | 6 - 8 Years | Hardcover
A truly timeless classic, Charlotte's Web is a poignant story about an unconventional friendship between a spider and a pig. This book is humorous and heartwarming and it belongs on every shelf.
Charlotte's Web | 6 - 11 Years | Paperback
The Family Book celebrates families and all the varieties they come in. Whether they're big or small, look alike or different, have a single parent or two, Todd Parr assures readers that every family is special in its own unique way.
The Family Book | 3 - 5 Years | Hardcover
These aren’t your usual fantasy witches, these are real witches. The kind that have conventions and hate children more than anything. Roald Dahl ’s ability to spin a yarn is unmatched, and The Witches ranks up there among his best.
The Witches | 8 - 12 Years | Hardcover
Seven years before Brown v. Board of Education, the Mendez family fought to end segregation in California schools. Discover their incredible story in Separate Is Never Equal, a picture book from award-winning creator Duncan Tonatiuh.
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation | 6 - 9 Years | Hardcover
The classic tale of Big Anthony and the magic cooking pot. When left alone with one task - tend the house - Anthony’s curiosity gets the best of him. This picture book is funny, heartfelt, and impossible to forget.
Strega Nona | 4 - 8 Years | Hardcover
The sass of Junie B. Jones is a staple for young readers. In this, the first of the series, Junie goes to school for the first time and splits sides in the process. Her unique worldview will give readers a fresh perspective, as well as a limitless so...
Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus | 6 - 8 Years | Paperback
Something Happened in Our Town follows two families—one White, one Black—as they discuss a police shooting of a Black man in their community.
Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story about Racial Injustice | 4 - 8 Years | Hardcover
Books For Young and Old Adults
Uncover the stories that dare to question the norm. These banned books offer a glimpse into the power of ideas and the importance of free thought.
The powerful, poignant, bestselling National Book Award finalist gives voice to a young girl robbed of her childhood yet determined to find the strength to triumph.
Sold | 12 - 17 Years | Paperback
A scary look into a society where free thought is punishable. Disturbing and thought-provoking, 1984 warns us of the dangerous possibilities of what would happen if everyone became completely submissive to the state. Remember, Big Brother is always w...
1984: 75th Anniversary | 13 and up | Paperback
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl is an intimate account of the Holocaust and the unbreakable spirit of a young girl forced into hiding. A difficult but necessary read, this diary illustrates the life of a brilliant girl whose life was taken too ...
The Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank | 12 and up | Paperback
In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue explores their childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia.
All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto | 14 - 18 Years | Paperback
The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower | 14 - 18 Years | Paperback
The very first novel by the indelible Toni Morrison explores America's unflinching obsession with beauty through the eyes of 11-year-old Pecola, who prays for blue eyes. Sharp and insightful, Morrison's narratives always retain an almost prophetic cu...
The Bluest Eye | 14 and up | Paperback
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl: A hilarious and heartbreaking coming-of-age story about friendship, loss, and the power of movies. Greg, a high school outcast, is forced by his mother to spend time with Rachel, a classmate battling leukemia. Their un...
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl | 14 - 17 Years | Paperback
Follow the young and mischievous Tom Sawyer as he joins forces with Huckleberry Finn, an adventurous vagabond boy, and together they set off on a thrilling escapade down the majestic Mississippi River. With his exceptional storytelling, Mark Twain ca...
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Deluxe Hardcover Edition | 9 and up
George Orwell's timeless and timely allegorical novel - a scathing satire on a downtrodden society’s blind march towards totalitarianism. Under the cuddly guise of an animal society, the encroaching totalitarian state is not lost on the pigs and the ...
Animal Farm | 11 and up | Paperback
When it was first published in 1906, The Jungle exposed the inhumane conditions of Chicago’s stockyards and the laborer’s struggle against industry and “wage slavery.” It was an immediate bestseller and led to new regulations that forever changed wor...
The Jungle | 13 years and up | Paperback
A brutally moving work of art - widely hailed as the greatest graphic novel ever written - Maus recounts the chilling experiences of the author’s father during the Holocaust, with Jews drawn as wide-eyed mice and Nazis as menacing cats.
The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale | 15 - 18 Years | Hardcover
It's not easy being the new kid, especially when you don't look like everyone else. This instant classic middle grade graphic novel is about existing in two worlds and not belonging in either. It's the story of finding yourself so that others can fin...
New Kid | 8 - 12 Years | Paperback
Revolving around the immigrant experience, Front Desk brilliantly bandies between laugh-out-loud humor and societal issues, making this a standout title.
Front Desk | 8 - 12 Years | Paperback